small steps

this summer is looking busy, but somewhat empty at the same time. I want to do something meaningful - I want to help those who are in need, who are suffering and hurting, right around me - next door - down the street - in the city. There is a lot of need, but there are also a lot of opportunities to do something. Will that 'something' be beneficial though? It is worth considering the consequences of well-meant actions. so often they end up causing further harm. why is that? It is worth considering - but it must not cripple, or scare us away from ever doing anything. we cannot just turn the other way ... cross on the other side of the road ... for the sake of cleanliness. of religion. of our own pride.

I want to do something. But am I merely concerned with the doing... and not loving the people themselves? could I be so in love with my own sense of accomplishment, or so relieved that I am "helping" that I forget that I am not just talking with some drunk and high college student on the streets of boston, but I am talking with someone loved so deeply and so completely by the creator of the universe that he died to give this student with red hair and piercings everywhere, LIFE. I am merely a humble, broken, loved vessel... and I'm called to be so filled with the love of Christ, that I can pour out, and never be empty. What does it mean to be in Christ, and he in you? What does it mean to see the world through His eyes? compassion, love, justice, mercy, hope. sometimes it just seems too overwhelming. but then- it starts with each moment. it starts with each day.

This is what we are about: We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest.

--Archbishop Oscar Romero